After a few months, Miyagi Chōjun returned to Okinawa and recommended Mabuni Kenwa, the founder of Shitō-ryū, to Tani Chōjirō to carry on his learning.

After many years of training under Mabuni and becoming one of his most senior students, Tani received the certificate of succession from him and became the head of Shitō-ryū, enabling him to use the name Tani-ha Shitoryu.

Shūkōkai was designed around the study of body mechanics, is very fast due to its relatively high stance aiding mobility,[3] and is known for the double hip twist, which maximises the force of its strikes; making it one of the most hard-hitting Karate styles.

One of Tani's most senior students, Sensei Shigeru Kimura, left Japan in 1965 to teach Shūkōkai in Africa.

[4] He continued to teach after travelling to Europe, before settling in the United States in 1970 at the age of 29, where he taught at Yoshisada Yonezuka's Cranford, New Jersey dojo for two years; creating the first Shukokai World Tournament in 1981.